Mission Rocketwar: Revealing a Secret

Andrei is a dedicated young reporter from Romania. Only 20 years old, he went fearlessly into the war zone to get in contact with the local shooters.

It was around 10pm when he succeeded in entering the critical area, the fire line of Agios Markos. As clever as he is, he quickly found out where to go and whom to ask. After exploring the neighbourhood he decided to approach a group of paramedics on the Panagia Erithiani side. This turned out to be a clever decision in many perspectives. They did not only take care of all kinds of injuries but also watched over the alcohol supply.

“Warriors” with wounded fingers and burning trousers crowded the spot. Other people gathered there to frantically search for cans of beer, while Andrei was drinking wine together with the Chians. In this agitation Andrei was also given some explosives. The locals showed him how to light them to prove his trustworthiness. Then he was truly one of them. Once undercover it was indeed a piece of cake for Andrei to get to the bottom of the story. A mysterious girl under the protection of two Thessalonian body guards provided him with the crucial information. One of the guys had played soccer in Romania.

This is what they told him: About one hundred years ago, when the Turkish invaded the island again, the people were prohibited to celebrate Easter the way they were used to.The Christians from the churches of Panagia Erithiani and Agios Markos came up with a trick to fool the Turkish. They decided to have a fake war with rockets to keep the Turkish away. Indeed, the Turkish were frightened by the sudden violence. They kept a safe distance while the rockets were fired. In the meantime, the communities could celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection in the churches.

Despite his heroic efforts Andrei assumed that they only gave him the short version of the story. On the other hand, it would have been too dangerous to insist on a more detailed explanation. Andrei hung around for a while, took some pictures and left the area when the preparations for the mass attack around midnight begun.